Customer Reviews

Beadwork (Handicraft Manuals)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For those of you who don't know what french beading is - it is the creation of flowers with wires and beads. Yes, that is a very simple description of a very complex process. I picked this book up expecting needleweaving - peyote, brick, loom, square - anything but what I found inside.

I have not yet tried french beading but the project I found in this book would tempt me to try. The pictures are clear and in good color with good instructions. The wisteria worked with a root and displayed in a bonsai vase definitely has my attention.

There is some jewelry with wire and beads done in right angle weave, crochet, and knitting.

This book is NOT for beginners. It is for those who want to push the envelope of french beading to see where it leads. I just wish the author had chosen another title as I'm afraid this one will lead people to believe it leans to the needleweaving style of beadwork.

I can't emphasize this enough...this book is utterly exquisite beautiful and filled with beautiful projects. The beaded flowers and miniature trees in this book are among some of the most creative and gorgeous I have ever seen. The book is filled with photographs both of an instructional nature and of finished creations. The instructions for the flowers are good, however I would not recommend this book to a novice unless it was as a creative stimuli, which it most assuredly is. ie..some prior experience with beads or an innovative creative mind is recommended. I have many bead books and I can say with some confidence that this book is a MUST HAVE for anyone who loves beads and beadwork and beautiful things. Even if it had no words and only the pictures I would still recommend it as highly inspirational for the projects and creations it displays

This book is not a general book about beading. It has an intro section on supplies and some history of beads, then a section on beaded flowers, a section on beaded miniature plants and a section with some jewelry.

The problem I found with this book is that it was first written in Italian and I believe that some instructions may have been lost in translation. This is my primary reason for giving this book a low score. To give you an example, when looking at the pattern for a willow tree, the supplies list includes a long, thin board. Ok. How long?

The second reason that I gave this book a low score is that I have seen many French Beaded Flower books that are much better at both teaching the skills you need and, frankly, at putting the flowers together. I found these designs were too "loose" for my taste. I think it makes the flowers look too sloppy. I such French-Beaded Flowers: New Millennium Collection by Dalene Kelly for great patterns and Beads in Bloom: The Art of Making French Beaded Flowers by Arlene Baker for the best techniques.

Still the miniature plants really caught my eye and if I can decode the instructions, I hope to make a few!

I agree with what one of reviewers said. The pattern is a little bit loose. And how loose it should be is tricky thing to figure out. Therefore what you get may be different from what is shown in the book. I started beaded flowers using books by Dalene Kelly, which have very clear instructions. So comparatively the instruction of this book somehow is a little hard to follow. I found it misses some parts here and there. So I have to stop several times to think what is next step. However, the beaded flowers and trees are really beautiful.

In conclusions, it may not be a good book for beginners because little instructions about techniques and a little bit hard-to-follow pattern instructions. But if you already have some experience in beaded flowers, it will be a great book for inspiration.

I have done many projects on beaded flowers and this book has got have the most confusing instructions I have ever come across.
Totally disappointing. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

I have alot of books on how to make french beaded flowers, but this book is the worse one that I have. The instructions are confusing, this is definaly not for beginners I wish I had never purchased this book !!

First of all, this is simply the worst translation of Italian into English that I have ever seen in a published work. They must have used the Italian to Gibberish app. If it was translated by a human being, than this person is completely clueless regarding the techniques used to make beaded flowers. I bought the book for the lavender pattern, and the text was completely, utterly useless. The photos were not detailed enough to just figure it out and there were no diagrams either. So I guess I will have to figure it out on my own.
The "techniques" used to make the flowers seem to come from another planet. They are so convoluted and difficult.
There are flowers shown in the book and no patterns provided for them and there are instructions for flowers that don't match the pix. There are "techniques" defined a different way each time they are referenced.
Some reviewers have commented on the sloppiness of the flowers shown.....
So why give it 3 stars? Well, with all that, I think the flowers are actually very artistic, with a lyrical quality, just bordering on the edge of complete chaos. Some of them are quite dramatic and almost all of them are very inspiring. Ms. Ciotti's color shading is magnificent and if you look at this book as just inspirational photos and not as a pattern book, it sort of changes one's expectations.
So if you are looking for a pattern book, this is not the one to get. If you want to see some gorgeous, dramatic and decorative flowers, then go for it. I got it used for $3.99 so I think it is a fair deal. If I paid full retail for this book I would have been very disappointed.
I am very surprised North Light let this go to press in this condition. Were they all out drinking when they should have been editing? Oh, I see that they only "distributed" it. Whatever.
Forgot to mention it also has "patterns" for beaded bonsai. These are lovely and seem much easier to figure out if you like to do those.

I really like this book. There are full color pictures and it explains what you have to fairly well. I bought the book and that night I was making flowers :) Pretty cool. I really like the rose :)

Just one comment says it all-----I returned it.